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“‘In the absence of a market failure, the constitution doesn’t permit the FCC to treat the information superhighway or any other institution of the press like a public utility,’ Fred Campbell, director of the think tank Tech Knowledge, said in a statement.”

“‘In the absence of a market failure, the constitution doesn’t permit the FCC to treat the information superhighway … like a public utility,’ said Fred Campbell, director of the think tank Tech Knowledge.”

“Most recently, in 2004, Democrats flexed their political muscle to prevent a documentary that was critical of presidential candidate John Kerry from airing on Sinclair Broadcast Group, FredCampbell, a Forbes contributor, reported.”

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“Many of the same Democrats ‘mastered the art of threatening FCC investigations’ in response to broadcaster coverage they deem to be a partisan attack, Tech Knowledge Director FredCampbell wrote in a Forbes piece Tuesday pointing to political outcry that Sinclair faced over its 2004 plans to air a documentary critical of presidential candidate John Kerry (see 0410130161). If Democrats believe the FCC can investigate broadcast licenses based on broadcasters’ editorial decisions, then ‘they have no grounds to ask the current FCC chairman to repudiate Congress’ intent,’ he said.”

“‘This episode of apparent censorship shows what’s wrong with the Obama-era net neutrality rules and why an ISP like AT&T would support a truly open internet,’ Campbell writes. ‘Obama’s rules don’t apply to powerful companies like Twitter, who are free to censor any opinion they don’t like, including the opinions of ISPs.'”

“It’s notable that the bill would apply to local communities that are already served by privately owned networks,’ Fred Campbell, the director of the right-leaning think tank Tech Knowledge, wrote in an email. ‘The bill would establish a broad new federal policy of encouraging government ownership of the 21st century’s most important mass media communications facilities. Such a policy would have serious implications for freedom of expression as well as state sovereignty.’”

“Fred Campbell, director of the think tank Tech Knowledge, said his research has led him to several providers that fit this description, such as a New York-based ISP that’s geared toward Jewish customers. The service essentially blocks all content that’s inconsistent with the Jewish faith, Campbell said on ‘The Communicators.’

‘If the FCC were to take action against this ISP for their editorial decisions,” he said, ‘they then could say, ‘As this is being applied to me, it’s violating my First Amendment rights.'”

“There’s plenty in the decision to pique the high court’s interest, said Fred Campbell, director of Tech Knowledge. “‘The D.C. Circuit’s conclusion that the mass media capability of the internet ‘does not meaningfully differentiate broadband from telephone networks for purposes of the First Amendment’ is novel and the reasoning supporting it is inconsistent with existing First Amendment precedent,’ Campbell emailed. ‘Because the case involves a federal agency rule, it’s unlikely that this constitutional issue would ever result in a circuit split. In these circumstances, Supreme Court review is justified.”‘